7 crazy consequences of being an adventurer

Adventurer Al Humphreys breaks the code of silence on the bizarre side-effects of pushing boundaries

1. Since walking 1,000 miles across the Empty Quarter, I have lost all feeling in my toes meaning they get so cold that I have to sleep in socks at night.

2. On more than one occasion I have opted to wear my boxer shorts on my head for warmth as opposed to their designed function.

3. In a rough bar in Tanzania I once received a phone call via the phone at the bar with a warning from an anonymous caller that if I did not leave immediately then I would be beaten and robbed.

4. The food I have squeamishly wimped out of eating include decomposed shark (Iceland), scorpions on a stick (China), and near-formed chicken foetus' still in the egg (Philippines).

5. During truly desperate times on an ultra marathon, squidgy banana makes an admirable Vaseline substitute for treating chafed bottoms.

6. The most bored audience member I have seen at one of my talks thought she was coming along to a talk about "Recycling Round the World" not a talk about "Cycling Round the World"

7. Cycling up a mountain in Ecuador, I was punched in the head by the driver of an overtaking lorry. Enraged I gave chase. Unfortunately my top speed of 8mph was marginally trumped by his getaway speed of about 9mph. He grinned in his wing mirror and gave me "the finger" throughout the farcically slow, unsuccessful pursuit.